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Shinobido: Way of the Ninja/Storyline
Prologue End of the Muromachi period - the late 16th century: The power of the Ashikaga government is on the decline after the Ōnin/Bunmei civil war. Civil unrest is on the rise and conflict rocks province after province. Even Utakata, long peacefully ruled by the House of Ichijo, is now threatened. It was thought that the combined protection of the House of Ichijō and the Asuka Clan would preserve the peace in Utakata. But this time of peace came to an end when the Asuka ninja clan was destroyed in a single night. The provincial lords, who had been watching and waiting for an opportunity to strike at Utakata, wasted no time in making their moves. And they were accompanied by rival ninja clans hoping to take the place of the Asuka Ninja. Besieged by rival governments and ninja clans, Utakata stands on the brink of war... Chapter 1: Within The Darkness W-who... Who am I? An amnesiac man wakes up to find himself lying on a riverbank in unfamiliar territory. With no memories of his life before regaining consciousness he takes a sword that was lying next to him. A rustling sound alerts him, but turns out to be just a cat, which he follows to an abandoned hut. In the hut he finds a strange glowing stone, upon taking it visions flash before his eyes: armored soldiers, blood, screams, him running from an unseen threat, a man with an evil aura cornering him and using evil magic on him, a glowing jewel shattering into pieces, a woman shouting at him to escape, an explosion and the splashing sound of water... Confused by the visions, an arrow shoots past him, landing in the hut's outer wall; tied to the arrow is letter adressed to him. The unidentified writer explain how the strange glowing stone is a fragment of the amnesiac man's soul, the visions were of his past, and that he needs to retrieve the rest of the fragments. The author expresses his desire to help the man, but explains that all he can do is give advice. The author instructs him to depart for Utakata Castle to meet "your master, your father" Lord Ichijo, which the man interprets as him being Ichijo's heir. Now with a lead, the man journeys into the castle. The man is stopped at the castle gate by a guard, who reacts in confusion when the man declares himself lord of the castle; with no other choice, the man infiltrates the castle. Inside one of the rooms, the castle's lord, Nobuteru Ichijo, holds unsuccesful negotiations with a local religious leader, Sadame. Suddenly, the man, who Ichijo identifies as "Crow", crashes into the room holding a soldier hostage and demanding to meet his "father", to Ichijo's confusion and Sadame's amusement. Sadame identifies the man as Ichijo's "pet ninja", and Ichijo himself declares that he's the man's lord, not his father; Crow shows them the glowing stone, and explains how he received a message claiming the stone as a fragment of his soul, and Ichijo as his father. Sadame takes an interest in the soul fragment, but Ichijo asks her to leave before she can take a better look at it; Sadame takes offense, insults Ichijo and warns an eavesdropping soldier by the room's window that she won't negotiate with Akame either, before leaving in a huff. Ichijo becomes dissapointed at his failure and snaps an order to Crow to follow Sadame and see what she's up to. With no answers, Crow returns to the abandoned hut, where he receives another letter from the anonymous writter. In the letter, the writter identifies himself as "Onji", apologizes for not explaning himself and for the misunderstanding over Ichijo, who he meant was "like a father" to him, then advices Crow, who he recognizes as an experienced ninja, to remain calm, keep an eye on future messages from him, and to equip himself for future missions. Besides the letter, Crow also receives two missions: one from Ichijo and one from Sadame. After the chosen mission, he receives two messages: one from the Fudo daimyo, Kagetora Akame, inviting him to serve under his clan, and another from Onji. Onji's letter advices Crow not to blindly trust any of the warlords, focus on recovering his memories, use the warlords' interest to his own benefit, and decide for himself who he should serve, to what extent, or play them all for information on the soul fragments. Chapter 2: The Way of the Ninja Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Endings Normal Ending To get this ending, simply serve one warlord and slay the other three. Once done, your chosen warlord will issue a mission to assassinate Gamuran. The Asuka, now reunited, return to the Asuka Village to stop Gamuran's resurrection. Unknown to Goh and Zaji, Kabuto watches them from one of the rooftops, and waits until Goh sneaks ahead from Zaji to ambush the latter; Kabuto impales Zaji with his gauntlet, and Zaji, believing himself betrayed again, curses Goh before Kabuto throws him into sharp debris, killing him. Kinu screams in despair, and an enraged Goh confronts Kabuto. Boss fight: Kabuto. Goh kills Kabuto, and turns to stop Gamuran, but it's too late, as the sorceror has been succesfully ressurrected. Goh unsheates his blade, and Gamuran leaps from the heights, the final battle begins... Boss fight: Gamuran. Gamuran gloats as Goh is unable to kill him, but Kinu slashes him from behind with the only weapon capable of harming him: the Ancestral Sword, used in the past to defeat and seal him. Gamuran strikes back at Kinu, knocking the sword from her hands, but before he can crush her with a boulder Onji leaps and bites Gamuran's hand. Distracted, Gamuran swipes his hand to throw Onji off him, the cat lands by Goh's side and as he sees the ninja take the ancestral sword, begs him to put and end to the curse of the Asuka. The battle resumes... Boss fight, 2nd round: Gamuran. Goh defeats Gamuran, and as the fallen sorceror agonizes, he impales his head with the ancestral sword, finally killing the Asuka's ancient enemy. Goh burns the shrine and turns to Kinu, the final Soul Fragment in his hand. He asks Kinu if Onji survived, but the kunoichi sadly shakes her head, then Goh throws the Soul Fragment, containing the memory of the necromancy arts, to the ground and crushes it underfoot; with Gamuran and the secret of necromancy gone, the curse of the Asuka has been lifted... Dawn breaks on the village. As Kinu murmurs "It's over", Goh responds that it's begun instead, as they have to rebuild the Asuka Village. Kinu claims that in Zaji's and her clansmen's names she will rebuild the Asuka, but not with Goh; Goh tries to approach her, but Kinu turns away, declaring that she must travel alone, before leaving the village and Goh behind. Some time after this, Goh dissapears from Utakata... As shown by Zaji's, and the warlords' survival in Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen, this ending is non-canonical. Ichijo's Ending Once peace has been archieved and Gamuran is slain, Ichijo abdicates his position. Outside of Utakata Castle, he explain to two of his soldiers how he's too weak and insecure to rule, and instructs them to find Goh, who he believes is much more capable of leading, and make him lord of Utakata. While reluctant, the soldiers accept his words and wave him goodbye. Akame's Ending Akame is seen inside Fudo Castle celebrating. As he boasts his victory, he laments Goh's departure, having intended to reward him with heirship of the Akame Clan, but then dismisses the thought as the ninja's own foolishness. High from his conquest, Akame walks up to his balcony and swears to continue his campaign until all territories in Japan are his. Sadame's Ending Sadame is seen lounging with her soldiers inside Sotai Tower. As the Amurita rest in their laurels, Sadame laments Goh's departure, dissapointed with the loss of the one man strong enough to catch her interest, but decides to let it go and focus on her clan's victory. Hidden Ending To get this ending, do not kill any of the warlords and reach over 70% of favor will all of them; if done correctly, all warlords will send Goh letters concerning a truce (this may take some time, do missions until it appears), and later Ichijo will issue a mission to assassinate Gamuran. The Asuka, now reunited, return to the Asuka Village to stop Gamuran's resurrection. Unknown to Goh and Zaji, Kabuto watches them from one of the rooftops, and waits until Goh sneaks ahead from Zaji to ambush the latter; Kabuto impales Zaji with his gauntlet, and Zaji, believing himself betrayed again, curses Goh before Kabuto throws him into sharp debris, but soldiers of Ichijo, Akame and Sadame safely catch him before he lands. An enraged Goh turns to confront Kabuto. Boss fight: Kabuto. Goh kills Kabuto, and turns to stop Gamuran, but it's too late, as the sorceror has been succesfully ressurrected. Goh unsheates his blade, and Gamuran leaps from the heights, the final battle begins... Boss fight: Gamuran. Gamuran gloats as Goh is unable to kill him, but Kinu slashes him from behind with the only weapon capable of harming him: the Ancestral Sword, used in the past to defeat and seal him. Gamuran strikes back at Kinu, knocking the sword from her hands, but before he can crush her with a boulder Onji leaps and bites Gamuran's hand. Distracted, Gamuran swipes his hand to throw Onji off him, the cat lands by Goh's side and as he sees the ninja take the ancestral sword, begs him to put and end to the curse of the Asuka. The battle resumes... Boss fight, 2nd round: Gamuran. Goh defeats Gamuran, and as the fallen sorceror agonizes, he impales his head with the ancestral sword, finally killing the Asuka's ancient enemy. Goh burns the shrine and turns to Kinu, the final Soul Fragment in his hand. He asks Kinu if Onji survived, but the kunoichi sadly shakes her head, then Goh throws the Soul Fragment, containing the memory of the necromancy arts, to the ground and crushes it underfoot; with Gamuran and the secret of necromancy gone, the curse of the Asuka has been lifted... Dawn breaks on the village. As Kinu murmurs "It's over", Goh responds that it's begun instead, as they have to rebuild the Asuka Village, and Zaji responds with "Such fine words, my friend. Especially from you...". Zaji rises from his sitting position besides a tree, but his injuries are too great, so Kinu rushes to support him before he falls; both turn to Goh, standing behind them. Zaji expresses how he was sure Goh would betray him again, but as he's been proven wrong, he regains his faith in the Goh "he knew before". Zaji declares himself the master of the Asuka Ninja, once an army and now reduced to three members, and Goh, with the slaying of their ancient enemy, has repaid for the sin commited by his betrayal and reclaimed his name as a member of the Asuka. Kinu and Zaji walk away. Now truly redeemed, Goh is at peace... As shown by Zaji's and the warlords' survival in Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen, this is considered the canonical ending. Epilogue Ichijo, Akame and Sadame reunite inside Utakata Castle. A happily oblivious Ichijo declares a toast to Utakata's peace and instructs one of his vassals to bring drinks to celebrate, but immediately after both Akame and Sadame make it very clear that, with Gamuran gone, so is their truce, and will continue their respective campaigns soon. An Ichijo soldier arrives with drinks only to see the guests depart, and his disgruntled lord swipes one of the drinks to drown his sorrow.Category:Shinobido Category:Story